Louise Penny is a best-selling Canadian author. She’s written 17 mystery novels following the work of the fictional Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, most of which are set in Quebec.

She is often compared to Agatha Christie, as her works feature many of the hallmarks of British ‘whodunits,” including murders by unconventional means, idyllic villages, large casts of suspects, and red herrings.

In this post, we’ve listed all 17 of her Gamache novels in order so you can dive in and start solving cases with the beloved Inspector.

Louise Penny Books in Order

Below are all 17 of Louise Penny’s novels that follow Chief Inspector Armand Gamache.

1. Still Life

In this first book of the Inspector Gamache series, we meet our modern Poirot, who is called with his team to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal.

Jane Neal was a local fixture, and although locals are sure her death was a tragic hunting accident, Gamache smells something foul in the remote woods. Before long, he’s convinced that Neal died at the hands of someone much more evil than a careless bowhunter.

2. A Fatal Grace

In the second Gamache novel, also set in Three Pines, the villagers are preparing for a traditional Christmas—but one of them is preparing for murder.

When the Chief Inspector is called in to investigate the death of a woman no one liked, he quickly discovers that he’s dealing with an insane but brilliant killer.

CC de Poitiers was watching the annual curling tournament when she was electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, in front of her entire village—yet no one saw anything.

Gamache must dig beneath the idyllic surface of Three Pines and unearth the dangerous secrets long buried there.

3. The Cruelest Month

It’s now spring in Three Pines, but although the earth has been thawing out, it seems not everything is meant to return to life.

Hoping to get rid of the town’s evil, some of the villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House. Then one of their party dies of fright. But was theirs a natural death, or did someone help them along?

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called in to investigate, and this is one case that will force him to face his own ghosts, as well as the town’s.

4. A Rule Against Murder

This summer, Chief Inspector Gamache and his wife are celebrating their wedding anniversary at Manoir Bellechasse, an isolated, luxurious inn not far from Three Pines. The rich and respectable Finney family has also just arrived for a celebration of their own.

The beautiful Manoir Bellechasse is surrounded by nature, but there is something unnatural looming. As the heat and humidity rise, some surprising guests begin to turn up, and a terrible summer storm leaves behind a dead body.

It will be up to Gamache to dig up the long-buried secrets and hatreds that lie hidden behind polite smiles.

5. The Brutal Telling

With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. Everybody goes to Olivier’s Bistro—including a stranger whose murdered body is found on the floor. When Chief Inspector Gamache is called to investigate, he is dismayed to discover that Olivier’s story is full of holes. Why are his fingerprints all over the cabin that’s uncovered deep in the wilderness, with priceless antiques and the dead man’s blood? And what other secrets and layers of lies are buried in the seemingly idyllic village?

Gamache follows a trail of clues and treasures—from first editions of Charlotte’s Web and Jane Eyre to a spiderweb with a word mysteriously woven in it—into the woods and across the continent, before returning to Three Pines to confront the truth and the final, brutal telling.

6. Bury Your Dead

Bury Your Dead finds Gamache is on a break up north, where he’s attending the famous Winter Carnival. But he’s not in this beautiful, freezing city to join in the festivities—he’s there to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong.

Still, even in the apparent tranquility of the Literary and Historical Society, Gamache cannot escape violence and death.

There, one obsessive academic’s search for answers will lead Gamache down a dark path, while he also receives disturbing news from his hometown that beloved bistro owner Olivier has been convicted of murder. Everyone believes Olivier is innocent, and it will be up to Gamache to crack the case.

7. A Trick of the Light

When Lillian Dyson is found dead in Clara Morrow’s garden in Three Pines, it shatters Clara’s solo show at the famed Musée in Montreal.

Chief Inspector Gamache is quickly called to the tiny Quebec village, where he finds members of the art world gathered.

There, nothing is as it seems, and even when facts are slowly exposed, Gamache and his team must determine what is the truth, and what is simply a trick of the light.

8. The Beautiful Mystery

Hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec is a monastery where no outsiders are ever allowed. There, two dozen monks live in peace and prayer. They grow vegetables, tend chickens, and sing. In fact, their chants are so profound, it’s referred to as “the beautiful mystery.”

But when the renowned choir director is found murdered, the monastery makes an exception by inviting in Chief Inspector Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec.

There, they discover disquiet beneath the silence, and find that one of the brothers has been contemplating murder. Gamache will be forced to confront some of his own demons, as well as those roaming the corridors.

9. How the Light Gets In

It’s a festive Christmas season in Québec, but for Chief Inspector Gamache, it’s full of cold shadows. Most of his best agents have left the Homicide Department, his old friend and lieutenant Jean-Guy Beauvoir hasn’t spoken to him in months, and hostile forces are lining up against him.

When he receives a message from Myrna Landers that a longtime friend has failed to show up for Christmas in Three Pines, Gamache jumps at the chance to get away from the city.

He soon discovers that the missing woman was once one of the most famous people in the world, but she now goes unrecognized by virtually everyone except the mad poet, Ruth Zardo.

10. The Long Way Home

Now happily retired in Three Pines, Gamache seems to have finally found a peace he’d only dreamed possible.

But then his neighbor, Clara Morrow, asks Gamache for his help finding her artist husband, who has failed to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation.

Peter, her artist husband, has failed to come home. Failed to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation.

Gamache is reluctant to leave his newfound sanctuary, but he commits to helping her find Peter Morrow—a man so desperate to recapture his fame that he would sell his soul. And may have.

11. The Nature of the Beast

Everyone in Three Pines is used to 9-year-old Laurent Lepage crying wolf—from aliens, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, he’s claimed to see it all.

But when the boy disappears, the villagers must face the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true.

And thus begins a frantic search led by Armand Gamache, who must confront another possibility: that in not believing the boy himself, he too played a terrible part in whatever happens next.

12. A Great Reckoning

On the first day of his new job, Armand Gamache is given and old, intricate map that was found stuffed into the walls of Three Pines’ bistro.

At first, it seems nothing more than a curiosity; but as the villagers look more closely, they realize how strange the map actually is.

The map eventually leads Gamache to shattering secrets. He’ll come across four young cadets in the Sûreté academy, along with a dead professor. With his body is a copy of the old odd map.

Everywhere Gamache turns, he sees Amelia Choquet, one of the cadets—tattooed and pierced, guarded and angry, Amelia was an unlikely protégée of the murdered professor.

As the focus of the investigation soon turns to Gamache himself and his mysterious relationship with Amelia, the two realize that the time has come for a great reckoning.

13. Glass Houses

One cold November day, a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines, piquing the curiosity of Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers. As the figure stands unmoving through sleet rain and sleet, however, the village soon grows wary.

Wwhen the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls on Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, to discover if a debt has been paid or levied.

Months later, as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November. More than the accused, Gamache’s own conscience now stands in judgment.

14. Kingdom of the Blind

When Gamache receives a peculiar invitation to an abandoned farmhouse, he discovers that a complete stranger has named him one of the executors of her will.

Still on suspension, and genuinely curious, Gamache accepts and soon learns that the other two executors are Myrna Landers, the bookseller from Three Pines, and a young builder. None of them had ever met the elderly woman.

When a body is found, the bizarre terms of the will suddenly seem less odd and far more menacing. Meanwhile, a deadly narcotic is about to hit the streets of Montreal, sending Gamache on a race for answers.

15. A Better Man

It’s Gamache’s first day back as head of the homicide department following his recent suspension. As flood waters are rising across the province, a father begs Gamache to help find his daughter.

Trying to hold off the encroaching chaos of the town, Gamache realizes that the search for Vivienne Godin should be abandoned. But with a daughter of his own, he finds himself developing a profound empathy for her distraught father, which leads him to resume the search.

As the rivers rise and social media attacks against Gamache become crueler, a body is discovered. And amidst the tumult, some critical mistakes are made.

16. All the Devils Are Here

On their first night in Paris, the Gamache family enjoys dinner at a bistro with Armand’s godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz.

While walking home, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Gamache knows is no accident.

When a strange key is found in Stephen’s possession, it sends Armand, his wife, and his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, on a hunt around Paris and deep into the secrets of Armand’s godfather.

Soon the whole family is caught up a web of lies and deceit, and in order to find the truth, Gamache will have to venture into the City of Light’s dark side.

17. The Madness of Crowds

The Chief Inspector’s winter holiday is interrupted by a simple request: he’s asked to provide security for a visiting professor of statistics, who will be giving a lecture at the nearby university.

It sounds easy enough, but when Gamache starts looking into Professor Abigail Robinson and discovers an agenda so repulsive, he begs the university to cancel the lecture.

They refuse, citing academic freedom and accusing Gamache of censorship and intellectual cowardice. Soon, Professor Robinson’s views are seeping into conversations, making it difficult to tell reality from delusion.

As discussions turn into heated arguments, a madness takes hold of Three Pines. When a murder is committed, it falls to Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir to investigate the crime, as well as this extraordinary popular delusion.

In What Order Should You Read Louise Penny Books?

It’s best to read Louise Penny’s books in order, since some events are referenced in later books (for example, when Gamache is suspended).

However, the stories could also be read as standalones with minimal confusion. If you’re looking for more books like Penny’s Gamache series, check out these must-read cozy mysteries.

Do you have a favorite Louise Penny book? Tell us about it in the comments below!

 

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